Phosphorus-containing compounds such as cyanophosphonate derivatives are important precursors for the synthesis of organophosphorus compounds, which have numerous applications, for example, in herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, flame retardants and plasticizers. Cyanophosphonate derivatives can be further converted to aminomethylphosphonate derivatives, which have been particularly important precursors in the synthesis of N-phosphonomethylglycine, a highly effective commercial herbicide (available under the trade name Roundup.TM.) useful for the control of a large variety of weeds. The syntheses of such organophosphorus compounds have commonly used a halogen derivative of phosphorus as a starting material.
There is a need in the art for alternative processes for preparing cyanophosphonate derivatives and novel cyanophosphonate derivatives to be used in the synthesis of other phosphorus species. There is a further need for such novel processes and compounds that are economical and have an improved environmental impact over conventional processes using halogen-containing starting materials.